Big Thunder Mountain Movie Adaptation in the Works at Disney, Hawkeye 's Bert & Bertie to Direct
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The latest Disney theme park ride to get the big-screen treatment is the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.
Like several rides before it, the mine train adventure — which consists of several stomach-dropping turns and dives — will get an expanded story fit for feature length for Disney, Deadline reports.
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Bert & Bertie, who directed three episodes of Hawkeye on Disney+ as well as two episodes of the HBO Max comedy series Our Flag Means Death, will helm the feature film. Sources told Deadline that Disney is "excited" about the pitch from the directing duo.
Following the announcement, Bert & Bertie confirmed the news by reposting an announcement to their Instagram Story. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Margot Robbie's LuckyChap Entertainment and Ridley Scott's Scott Free will produce; the script is by Kieran and Michele Mulroney.
Plot details are still unknown, but the ride itself is set in a mining town in the 1800s where gold is discovered. Riders climb aboard a mine cart and avoid dynamite and a number of other surprises. The ride opened in 1979 in Anaheim, with other versions in Tokyo, Paris and the Magic Kingdom.
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This is not the first time Disney has adapted one of their rides into a feature film.
The Pirates of the Caribbean franchise starred Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley when the first of its films debuted in 2003. Depp earned an Oscar nomination for playing Jack Sparrow in the original film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. Sequels were released in 2006, 2007, 2011 and 2017.
In 2021, the studio released Jungle Cruise, starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Emily Blunt, to mixed reviews from critics, but favorable attention from audiences. The action-adventure film is reportedly also getting a sequel.
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The studio is also rebooting The Haunted Mansion with Tiffany Haddish, Lakeith Stanfield, Owen Wilson, Rosario Dawson and Danny DeVito, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Scarlett Johansson is set to take on producing duties for a new film based on the Disney Parks attraction The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, per previous reports.
